Unchained

Unchained
Updated version: it's now much more difficult to escape from the play area.

Tired of the same old Foundry maps? Unchain yourself from the standard boxes and bridges.​

Quick Links:
[iurl=#layout]Layout Screenshots[/iurl]
[iurl=#action]Action Screenshots[/iurl]
[iurl=#rec]Recommended Gametypes[/iurl]

Summary:
Like many of you, I've gotten tired of the same old Foundry. I was looking for ways to make something fresh. Also, I've wanted to design a compact map for small Slayer games, especially head to head.

I knew I wanted a multi-level map where you could jump from level to level easily. And I knew I wanted to avoid 90o angles whenever possible.

The map has several BRs, a sentinel beam, a shotgun, a mauler and SMG, a turret, and a brute shot. There is also a bubble shield, deployable cover, and a regenerator. In the center of the map in the triangular hole is an overshield.

During testing in the early versions, I discovered that the overshield was pretty powerful for this map. You're invincible while it charges and you can get pretty much anywhere in the level before it's done charging. It was basically a guaranteed kill. To make it less powerful, I added a few flame grenades. If you hit the overshield guy with one, it will keep burning him till he dies. It's your best defense. Also, the overshield is set to spawn every 60 seconds, not the default 30 seconds.
[anchor=layout]



[anchor=action]



With the overshield, you can survive a plasma stick and still have full overshields if you are stuck while it is charging.


But you can't survive a firebomb grenade.


We're playing with motion tracker disabled. Somehow, I get away without getting assassinated.


The orange guy throws an orange grenade, the blue guy throws a blue grenade. These nades actually hit each other, but the "impact" frame is skipped in the video. But you can see how their trajectories changed. It was pretty sweet.


The sentinel beam, back by popular demand and for added balance.



I chose the name Unchained for a couple reasons. First, I wanted to get away from the overdone warehouse/factory feel of Foundry. I wanted to think outside the box and be a little unconventional. Also, "chains" kind of reminds me of the interlocking technique, and I did a lot of interlocking.

[anchor=rec]
Gametypes:
Unchained is set up for Slayer and King of the Hill games. I used several respawn areas for both gametypes, but respawning can still be predictable at times.

I recommend turning off the motion tracker for head to head and team doubles games but leaving it on for free for all games of 3-4 people.

I also highly recommend rockets with motion tracker enabled.

Anyway, I hope this gives everyone a breath of fresh air from the standard warehouse maps. Also, it goes to show you that you can come up with some interesting level designs with some imagination and a lot of patience.

New Screenshots later on page 4 of this thread. Click here to jump there.

Download link: Unchained

 

Yes, the sentinel beam is gone. I got feedback from a few people that there should be more BRs, so I replaced it with a BR. I'm decided not to post the sentinel beam picture here, since it was from an earlier version and I didn't want to confuse people, but I had already posted it on the B.net thread. I'm really surprised that anyone even clicked on those pics.... you must have seen it there before you saw it here.
[anchor=over]
As for camo instead of overshield, I think it would be bad for several reasons. First, it would change the feel of the map from a "run-and-gun" slayfest to a "hide-in-a-corner-because-the-enemy-has-camo" campfest. Second, it's too easy to toss a grenade in the hole when someone goes down there, and it would suck to have your shields get knocked out by a nade and then get finished off with a BR round because you are partially visible. Third, I really love the feeling I get when I see a guy jump out of that hole with overshields and come running right at me. It's like, "ok, this is gonna be a challenge, take cover till the shield is done charging, then go own him!" There's huge bragging rights when you kill a guy that was invincible for 3 seconds and had twice as much shields as you.

Also, I've toned down the overshield a bit so it is no longer the only factor in games. It respawns less frequently, and there are a couple firebombs near the major player respawns. It's great when you tag the overshield guy with a firebomb, cause you know he is going to die eventually, it just takes a few seconds, so you gotta run for your life until he dies.

Anyway, I'm glad you guys like it. I know I do. And I hope it inspires some more unique levels from the community.

 

Absolutely! In my opinion, once a map is published you can do whatever you want with it. I've downloaded a few maps that I thought were awesome but needed some weapon placement tweaks. However, if you do change a few things and want to publish it to the community, you should include a little sentence that it was built by me. We don't want anyone getting mad thinking you stole my map.

If you delete or move weapons, make sure you're not really deleting or selecting the box below it! A few times when I was editing this map I thought I had a weapon or grenade highlighted, but when I hit Y to delete it the whole floor underneath it disappeared. To make sure you're selecting the right thing, hit X twice and it will display the name of the item in the top left corner of the window that pops up.

Neverless, concerning the Sentinel Beam, I like it too. I just thought that the general community would not like it. They probably don't know how awesome it is. Don't tell anyone. We can add it back in whenever we play head to head, but I will still own you! Lol, just kidding.

 

There's other maps besides Foundry? Seriously though, something like this map could not have been done anywhere else. Period. I think people aren't getting bored of Foundry, they're getting bored of the hundreds of duplicate maps getting churned out. That's why I wanted to do something fresh.